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Guest Post and Giveaway: Behind The Portrait with Hazel Statham

Thank you for inviting me onto your
site to talk about my new release, The
Portrait. I am particularly fond of
this book. It tells the story of a young
lord, Edward, Earl of Sinclair, who, having just entered into an arranged
betrothal, hastens to join the fight against Napoleon. Lady Jennifer, his
intended, is at first elated with the engagement, but as time goes by and she
receives no more than impersonal letters from Edward, she decides she has no wish to wed a man who
makes no effort to engage her affections or get to know her.

At
the battle of Salamanca, Edward receives grievous wounds which scar his body
and necessitate the removal of his arm.
Such are his injuries that, wishing not to present his prospective bride
with the wreck he believes himself to have become, he is determined to end the
betrothal. However, it is seen throughout the campaigns and in the convent
where he lies after the battle, that he relies greatly on the miniature of a
young woman and it is to this he clings upon his return to England.

The
couple mutually agrees to end their betrothal but are constantly thrown
together by society and the escapades of their younger brothers and still they
state they have no desire to marry.

Edward
continues to depend on the miniature and is determined not to relinquish it. Will he eventually find happiness with the
girl in the portrait or will he remain firm in his resolve not to wed? His head dictates one course, his heart
another.

The
inspiration for this story came to me from a song from the film ‘Hawks’ in
which the singer states ‘I wants to be the man that she thinks I am’. In the context of the film, this meant he
wanted to be healthy and whole for the sake of his girlfriend. I took this thought and it grew into The Portrait. It is not a somber tale and I hope readers
will enjoy the love story as it evolves.
As in all traditional Regency romances, it has a happy and satisfying
conclusion

Hazel
Statham lives in England and has been writing on and off since she was fifteen.
Initially she was influenced by Austen, the Brontës, and Sabatini but when she
turned seventeen, Georgette Heyer opened up the romance and elegance of the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. She immediately knew she had found her
eras and wanted nothing more than to re-create them in her work.

Her
latest book is the Regency romance novel, The Portrait, released by Avalon
Books in August 2010.

Hazel
lives with her husband, Terry, and a beautiful Labrador named Mollie. Apart
from writing, her other ruling passion is animals, and until recently she acted
as treasurer for an organization that raised money for animal charities.